Thank you so much Quinkilo1055, mysterygal3189, Booklover13, Link's Ocarina Babe and la generala for your reviews. I really do appreciate every single one I get and am so grateful you continue to give me such excellent feedback and critiques.
My new year's resolution was to write something everyday, unfortunately that led to me coming up with a two new one-shots and a multi-chapter story which are now in progress rather than concentrating on this. It's been quite a tough chapter to write though. The last one was a little naff so I hope this improves on it. I certainly feel a lot happier with it. Anyway, enough waffling on my behalf, cheers again and I hope you enjoy. Lupi X
Chapter Twenty Nine - Visions and nightmares
The contents of the crystal bottle flung across the room were probably valuable, thought Rauru, as he watched the shimmering dark blue liquid slop down the opposite wall. The owner of the said bottle gave no hint of protest - the only sign of dismay on his pallid face was the brief glance he sent in the direction of wall.
"You will tell me where she is. Now."
Rauru massaged his beard tenderly and gazed thoughtfully at his counterpart - Impa had been bullying Aganhim all morning and they hadn't got anywhere so far. He doubted that smashing more of the wizard's belongings would produce a more positive result. He was right. Although clearly afraid of the Judge who almost had him in a chokehold, Aganhim did not answer her question.
"I don't know." Moaned the unfortunate wizard.
"Well you should." Retorted Impa. Her hands reached for another priceless artefact from his desk and Aganhim groaned audibly.
"Impa, my dear, I don't think…" SMASH. Rauru sighed and shook his head as their king-elect sobbed. "Impa, please…" He tried again. The sheikah cast a red-eyed look of loathing at him and continued shaking Aganhim by the collar.
"Where. Is. Zelda?" She demanded, rather than asked.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Wailed Aganhim.
"I really don't think he knows, Impa." Confirmed Rauru. As much as he despised Aganhim for being a weak fool, he could easily empathise with anyone unfortunate enough to be confronted with the wrath of the mighty Impa. She was almost blind to reason when she was in one of these moods. Rauru liked to think he knew women, but he just couldn't fathom out the female judge. She was so moody.
"I don't buy your sorry excuses." She informed Aganhim, "You will tell me where my ward is this INSTANT or else I'll…" Impa's eyes darted around the room looking for yet another inanimate object to bear the brunt of her spleen. A vision of pure carnage met her eyes. Chairs had been toppled over, bottles and ornaments smashed, potions spilled, papers scattered. There didn't appear to be anything left for her to destroy. "I'll…um…" For a split second a hint of consternation appeared on the sheikah's angry face, "I'll make you sorry."
"I already am." Wailed Aganhim. "But I really don't know where Zelda is at this moment in time. You might have forgotten but the last time you visited me my very precious, priceless Seeing Stone was stolen by the hideously lovely Gerudo woman, and that was my only…er…means of tracking the delectable princess-to-be."
"I know that." Snapped Impa. "I am one of the few people these days who has apparently retained her mental faculties. What I am saying, you old fool, is that you are a Wizard. I'll bet any money you can use a spell to find her. Don't pretend you can't."
"I can't. I can't." Sobbed Aganhim, his hands feebly attempting to prise away Impa's chokehold.
"Why not? What pathetic excuse have you made up this time?"
Aganhim gulped and gazed pleadingly into the judges red eyes. "Its…um a…secret?"
"WHAT?!"
Before Impa exploded and literally choked the life from the poor wizard, Rauru decided that he'd better step in and help. With Kru's help, the pair of judges prised Impa's hands from around Aganhim's neck and pulled her away. Kru helpfully righted a chair and Rauru tenderly pushed the irate judge into the seat. She glared at them both. Not for the first time, Rauru thanked all the known gods that Impa had no magical powers that enabled her looks to kill. Fortunately she was too mad at them to speak, and sat almost docilely in the chair making an odd growling noise and grinding her teeth.
"Now Aganhim," Began Rauru, in his most soothingly pleasant voice, "You know we do not keep any secrets between us. Why don't you tell me why you cannot use your magic today?"
"I can't tell you." Aganhim was torn between being theatrically defiant and the very real fear of Impa. He fingered his neck and gulped.
"I think you'll find you have to tell us, Aganhim." Said Rauru, very kindly. "You see the thing is, if you can't honour us with your trust, I'm afraid we won't be able to trust you to be the next King of Hyrule. And that means that we also won't sanction your marriage to the heir to the throne."
"You don't have to spell it out so clearly." Sulked Aganhim. "You're all so mean."
"We are mean?" For a moment, Rauru allowed himself a moment of irritation. That the old wizard should accuse the three most benevolent people in Hyrule of being mean was almost too much to bear. Aganhim owed everything to them. They had hand-picked him as being most suitable match for Zelda's temperament, and with his long line of noble(ish) ancestors, vast wealth, magical skills and malleability, he was perfect for their schemes. In return for his compliance, the Judges were quite ready to proclaim him as rightful king, so long as he remembered who put him in such a place, and obeyed their every word. The moment didn't last long though, Rauru was far too placid to allow such minor insubordination disturb his peace. He sighed and shook his head at the aged wizard. "If you refuse to comply with our request, then it leaves me with no alternative but to…"
"Please don't!" Squealed Aganhim. "I'll explain everything. It's all Ganondorf's fault."
"GANON-what?" Exclaimed Impa, jumping out of her chair and flying at the unfortunate wizard again, her hands held forward, ready to choke the life from him. Kru managed to grab her mid-pounce and with some effort managed to restrain her whilst Rauru moved Aganhim strategically out of her reach. For his heroics, Kru received a rather painful thwack across his face.
"OW! Rauru, tell her - that really hurt!" He cried, as he beat a hasty retreat.
Rauru faced his counterpart judge and saw the look on her face and decided not to take Kru's advice. "Um, Impa…"
Impa raised an eyebrow, daring him to continue. Rauru gulped and closed his mouth. Whatever he was going to say dried on his lips. He stepped backwards and bumped into Aganhim who had decided that he was a safe thing to hide behind.
Satisfied she had all the men in the room firmly under her control again, Impa smiled unpleasantly at Aganhim and said, "You were saying?"
"I-I- um…."
"You said this was Ganondorf's fault." Stated Impa, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Tell me, Aganhim, what dealings have you had with the Gerudo King?"
"He-he-hum…did I say G-ganon…d…?" Aganhim's attempt at cherry bewilderment faltered in the face of such open hostility from Impa. She was clearly showing extreme restraint, for she obviously wanted to step over and strangle him. Her fists were clenched tightly, and when she spoke, it was clear it was through gritted teeth.
"Don't play games with me, fool. You're treading on very thin ice here. You'd better tell me this instant what dealings you have had with Ganondorf, and I mean full details. I want to know when, where and what was said. And if you don't tell me, I will throttle you. Right here. Right now. And don't think I won't do it because it would be murder and I'm a judge and judges don't condone murder because it is a heinous crime. It would not be a crime not to throttle you. Now SPEAK."
Aganhim gulped and again fingered the collar of his elaborate robes. He didn't dare look Impa in the eye, let alone disobey her and slowly he began to explain that about two weeks ago, Ganondorf and Nabooru had paid him an unexpected visit. At this point, Aganhim begged that his security should be tightened, as apparently the Gerudo king had found little effective resistance to his forced entry.
"No, he didn't meet much when he took over Hyrule either." Snapped Impa, in response. "But we are not here to discuss how he managed to get in. Frankly, I don't care. I want to know why he'd want to visit such a worthless excuse for a wizard as you."
"Sticks and stones may break my bones…" Quoted Aganhim, piously.
"And I will assuredly hurt you if you do not get on with your story." Interrupted Impa. "What did Ganondorf want with you?"
"He…well…he asked about…you know."
"Must I warn you again?"
"Um, no ma-am. Sorry." Aganhim was almost in tears. He had never been treated to this level of aggression by Impa before and he was very, very afraid. He explained hurriedly that the purpose of the King's visit had been to discover all he could about legends pertaining to the Chameleon Stone. He had forced the wizard to comply in a manner worthy of Impa herself. Aganhim was very susceptible to threats.
The Gerudo King had forced Aganhim to spend a whole night looking through every book he had to uncover the information he wanted. Eventually, Aganhim had located a Calatian script of unknown date that told the story of Lefestra and his unsuccessful invasion of Hyrule.
It seemed that Saeru, the goddess, surfaced during the initial stages of the invasion, and had assisted Lefestra in his battles. The legend said that she had been in love with Lefestra, and had enchanted him. The Hylians fought back his advance valiantly, the seven generals who would later become the dream snatchers leading the way but against a goddess, how could they prevail?
Surrender was their only option. The lot fell to Xeial to meet with Lefestra and offer the Hylians terms of peace. Perhaps the Hylians had good reason to send her, though she was the least experienced of them, for she was young and pretty and of royal birth. The result for the Hylians was better than expected, for Lefestra tumbled in love with her the moment he saw her. Saeru's enchantment was broken. The Goddess was betrayed. When she discovered this, she was filled with unholy wrath, the only natural outlay of which was against the man that had hurt her. Thus Saeru swapped allegiances and worked for the Hylians against her former lover.
Of course, it wasn't long before the Hylians began to realise what awesome power the goddess had, they had also seen so easily she had switched her allegiance and wondered if there was a way to harness her power. It was their sages that envisioned the Chameleon Stone, as it later became called, however to trap Saeru they needed Lefestra's skills. Details of why Lefestra decided to help his former enemy are a little sketchy, but it is generally believed that he did so because of General Xeial's influence over him. He was told that Saeru was out of control and was going to destroy the whole world if not contained. So he crafted the Chameleon Stone and designed her prison and keys that only the seven generals would possess. It was not until the battle commenced against Saeru that he realised what the Hylians really planned, but the magic was already in place and Saeru was captured.
In her final moments, she cursed the Generals, turning them into the dream snatchers, and Lefestra escaped the country taking the Chameleon Stone with him. Perhaps as a memento of his once adored goddess, perhaps in the hopes that one day he could somehow take her power for himself. That the latter desire was evidenced was clear in the form of a dagger that he crafted in his later years. He infused the dagger with the same magic he had used to contain Saeru's soul, and it was thus capable of destroying the Dream Snatchers.
"We already knew as much." Snorted Impa, as Aganhim came to the end of his rather long recital. "You told us that months ago, it doesn't explain why Ganondorf came to visit you - unless he wanted to be bored, and it also doesn't bring us any closer to explaining where Zelda is at this moment.
"You didn't know about the dagger." Retorted the wizard, rather hurt at being shot down again by the Judge.
"The dagger is irrelevant."
"Oh no it isn't." Aganhim cackled to himself. "King Ganondorf was most interested in the dagger, you see, when the Hylians conquered Calatia they removed all the royal treasures from the armoury, this not only included the Chameleon Stone, but there was no sign of the dagger. However, the Lady Nabooru's family heirloom is an ancient Calatian dagger, that was stolen from the Royal Palace of Calatia many years ago. It is my belief that the dagger is the very same as the one crafted by Lefestra, created for but one purpose."
"To destroy the Dream Snatchers. You known, Aganhim, I'd like you so much more if you would refrain from waffling on at every opportunity." Snapped Impa. "Just get to the point."
Aganhim gulped and hastily finished his tale, "Ganondorf has got the dagger and intends to use it to take out the last Dream Snatchers before Zelda did, which by my reckoning then was four of them. Nabooru said it was three but wouldn't explain why. He came here to find out where the final Dream Snatchers were located."
"And you told him?"
"Well, yes, to the best of my ability, I did. You see, one was in the Desert, of course, and one was in the Zora Domain, but the other two are a little difficult to find. One vanished into Hyrule field, and the last one - Xeial, well, nobody actually knows what became of her, or where she went. All that is recorded about her is that she was actually rather fearless, and fierce. There was no obvious path for her to follow - no monster for her to become. So King Ganondorf was going to track Zelda with the Seeing Stone and...you know...take the keys to the Chameleon Stone from her."
"Does he not need her power any more? I thought that was why he was interested in her in the first place."
"Of course he still needs her, Zelda is the only mage with enough inner strength to contain Saeru's powers and only she will have the ability to unlock the Chameleon Stone. I would imagine that Ganondorf would need her for that."
"So what you mean is that Ganondorf has kidnapped Zelda again?"
"I didn't say that. All I know is that he and Nabooru were going to follow them."
"So yes, then. And you didn't think to warn us about the prospect of that monster hunting down my ward again?"
"Well, she is not my responsibility yet." Explained Aganhim, a little nervously. "You know, and Ganondorf said he'd hurt me if I told you."
Impa couldn't muster up a suitably withering response to this evidence of complete stupidity. She could have pointed out that she was far more capable of doing lasting injury to the poor wizard, or that by helping Ganondorf he was effectively scuppering his chances of ever attaining the throne of Hyrule but she realised that saying such would only be a waste of her breath. She doubted whether the old fool understood as much. He seemed only to be capable of understand physical and verbal threats. Too bad, she realised, they'd have to look for a less-senile man to marry Zelda instead. But that could be dealt with at a later date, she decided, right now her priority had to be recovering her ward from Ganondorf's clutches. Again.
"It seems then we must visit Ganondorf." She announced. She noted the looks on her fellow judges faces and sneered at them, "Oh come on, you two, you're not afraid of him are you?"
"Er…yes." Offered Rauru. Kru nodded in agreement.
"More afraid of him than you are of me?" Offered Impa, sweetly. That was a conundrum. Rauru and Kru exchanged a glance. One foe was capable of magic, was positively evil and ever since his self-imposed rule been trying to get rid of them. The other was Impa.
"We're coming." Decided Rauru.
It seemed like an eternity since she had seen daylight. The dungeons of the castle were dark, cold and smelled of decay. She had been alone for days now. Her only contact with the outside world was the silent Gerudo woman that delivered her meagre rations of bread an water once per day. There was a tiny barred window on the door to her cell. It was there that she spent every waking hour, watching and waiting for nothing to happen. Her cell was the only one in the long corridor, and facing her was a guard sat at a table. It was lit by a few dim torches. She could easily envisage loosing her mind to this silent, dark torture.
She had not seen Link since that fateful day of their fight with Ganondorf. She didn't know if he was alive, and she barely held out hope that she would ever see him again. Over and over in her mind she saw him shouting at her, telling her to run, watching him fall at Nabooru's hand. She believed it was her fault. All of it was her fault. She remembered cradling him as he lay bleeding, dying…
"Are you frightened, Zelda?" A soft voice came from within her cell. She swung around at the sound of the voice.
"Saeru?" She exclaimed, her eyes fell on the goddess, who was currently sat on her bed, perfectly at ease. As always an odd blue glow surrounded her, it reminded Zelda of the moon. The goddess smiled peacefully at her and patted the bed next to her.
"Sit, child. We have much to discuss."
Zelda obeyed. In her mind she was convinced this was a hallucination, but she didn't care. Any companion, whether real or imagined was better than none. For a long moment Saeru studied her in silence, her eyes probing the very depths of Zelda's soul. It seemed she had found what she had sought, for she slowly nodded and smiled wickedly to herself.
"Truly, you are terrified of this cage, are you not?" She mused. Her black hair twisted and swayed around her body as if it were alive and her golden eyes glowed eerily. "You understand what this means, don't you? This is your fear - the worst thing you can imagine."
"But this is real." Replied Zelda, miserably.
"Oh yes, it is very real. This imprisonment, this dread, this darkness and damp - it is all as real as the sun and the sky is on the walls outside this prison. You are imprisoned by your enemy, Zelda, and you know not what has become of your companion. You hold a glimmer of hope within your heart yet your head tells you such is a mere delusion. He is dead, you believe, yet you cannot accept it. The fear of not knowing is destroying you. In the darkness you can hear the whispers of spirits but you cannot see a face, and you know not if it is kind or cruel. The damp and cold stab continually at your skin and your heart longs to see daylight. Yes, you are very afraid. Even in my underworld, I could feel you tremble and thus I have come."
"To save me?"
"No child." She laughed, a little cruelly. "Surely you have not forgotten our bargain? Either you save me or you must face becoming your worst fear."
"I'd say that is more a threat than a bargain." Replied Zelda.
"However you term it, a deal is a deal. You used my power, therefore you must repay what you owe. We have already discussed this, child. You must release my power and set me free and in turn I will save you from this nightmare."
"But…I cannot release you now. There's still two Dream Snatchers and-"
"No, you cannot release me now. I am a goddess, not a fool. You must first defeat the final Dream Snatcher - yes I said Final. Perhaps if you are questioning what has happened to Gorban. Think about where he fled to and what you have witnessed in your last encounter with a Dream Snatcher. What did the Gerudo woman do, hmm?"
"Nabooru…?" Zelda frowned and thought about Ganondorf's hand-maiden. Ulusta had been killed by the white dagger Nabooru acquired. Nabooru couldn't have already destroyed another Dream Snatcher , could she?
"Am I to understand you have never properly looked at that woman's hands?"
"I've never really had the opportunity to do so."
"Hmm, well, next time you see her, I would recommend looking at her right hand. You might see something interesting sparkling there…"
"Her Ring?" Zelda remembered the large diamond ring Nabooru habitually wore. She remembered it flashing in the sunlight when she had swung the sword down on Link. She gasped. "That's a signet Ring?"
The goddess said nothing and smiled. "As I was saying, the Final Dream Snatcher - Xeial. Now she is a tricky one."
"It's nothing we can't handle."
"Providing Link is still alive and Nabooru hasn't already discovered the secret of the final Dream Snatcher." Saeru giggled and twirled her hair. "You know, this isn't really about releasing me anymore, don't you? I already have what I want. This is about saving yourself, child. If you cannot unleash my power from the Chameleon Stone, then you will be the one in trouble, not I. You see, even without my full power, once the Dream Snatchers are eliminated by you, I will have enough strength to transfer my soul into your body. Your soul - in other words you - will be transferred into my eternal prison. And believe me, it is far, far worse than anything a human could concoct. So, child, you see - you have no choice but to do as I ask."
"But if Xeial somehow stayed alive - I could…"
"Don't even think of it." Snapped Saeru, her eyes flashing ominously. "I can read your thoughts, don't forget. Leaving Xeial alive will not save your soul from me, you know. This started the moment you took on my power, you took the Oath Ring, you made an unbreakable promise to me to release me from my bonds. I do not want our time together to be tarnished with ill-feeling, but if you wish to play that way, then let me remind you who it was that turned those pathetic Generals into the monsters they are now. I will curse your line of family to a lifetime of nightmares and horrors. The Dream Snatchers are still mine to command. Leave Xeial alive and I will turn her into a true monster and she will torment you."
"And that's supposed to encourage me?" Zelda sighed and looked away. "I guess there is little choice in the matter after all. I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't."
"I'm glad you've come to see sense, child. We must work together for the good of all. If you want to escape the rather unpleasant fate in store for you, then you must co-operate with me."
"And by co-operate you mean do exactly as I tell you." Zelda smiled despite herself and added, "You know, you remind me a lot of my guardian, Impa. She uses the same…motivational methods."
Saeru chuckled at this and shook her head. "I presume that is some sort of insult. Alas, having never met this "Impa" I cannot judge how powerful your argument is. Now then, as I was saying Xeial is a tricky one. I would not like to spoil the surprise for you when you discover just what became of the final Dream Snatcher so I will not assist you too greatly. Rather I shall watch your progress from the sidelines with a certain degree of satisfaction and amusement. You see, I particularly hate Xeial. This whole saga came about because of her and I will take much delight in witnessing her final punishment. Poor, innocent fool - she was so loyal to Lefestra, never once questioning his decisions, obeying him without umbrage. You know she tried to protect him from me in the end."
"It sounds to me like she loved him a lot." Remarked Zelda, not realising how much this would anger the goddess.
"She stole him from me and I will never forgive her for destroying my dreams." Snarled Saeru. Her eyes flashed and her hair danced around wildly. "And so I shall make her demise all the more painful. She has spent her whole life protecting him but now he will be the one to destroy her. I think I shall keep the truth away from that dangerous Gerudo woman. It is much more fun this way." Suddenly the anger died from her eyes and she seemed to relax again. A soft chuckle escaped her lips and she turned slowly to Zelda. The Hylian didn't like the wicked look in her eyes and backed away.
"Yes, he will be the one to destroy her…" Saeru repeated gently, "Or he will have to destroy you. One of you will die at his hand. How beautiful." She smiled and stroked a cold hand slowly across Zelda's face. "So long, my doomed little friend."
"Wait!" Shouted Zelda, but it was too late. Saeru was gone.
Well sorry firstly that the chapter's a bit shorter than usual. Also sorry for the cryptic clues in there as to who Xeial is, all will be revealed in the next chapter. In the mean time, maybe see if you can guess her identity. Maybe I will surprise you…
